Spanish princess' husband indicted

Madrid
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The Spanish Royal family is distancing itself from its errant son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin, according to reports in Spanish newspapers such as El Pais and other media sources.

Iñaki Urdangarin married the Infanta Cristina, the youngest daughter of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, in 1999 and they have four children. The family moved to Washington DC, USA recently so that he could carry on with his business. He holds the title of Duke of Palma de Mallorca.

According to the El Pais report dated Dec. 11, the indictment is for "allegedly taking part in a public-money diversion scheme in which his non-profit Nóos Institute received some six million euros in contracts from the Balearic Islands and Valencia regional governments to organize sports and tourism conferences" His partner in Nóos was indicted six months ago.

In a statement to the EFE News Agency in Washington, Urdangarin said, "With the accumulation of information and commentary in the media relating to my professional activities, I would like to point out that I deeply regret the serious damage these statements are causing to the image of my family and of the House of His Majesty the King, which has nothing to do with my private activities,"

The BBC website says the Duke has agreed to step down from all official Royal duties in the wake of the scandal and that the Royal household will make all its accounts publicly available to distance the Royal family from any whiff of scandal.

However, the Duke's lawyer and spokesman Mario Pascual Vives said the Duke was "worried" and "indignant" over the scandal. The Royal Family's change of direction comes after the Queen allowed herself to be photographed with her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren for an issue of 'Hola' magazine but as the media interest increases, the Royal family has no choice but to push the Duke out into the cold. It has even been suggested that the two Infantas, Elena and Cristina, will have their official duties scaled down in the wake of this issue.